Fishing rod



H. M. GEPHART Dec. 4, 1951 FISHING ROD Filed July 13, 1948 INVENTOR. #ar/ y M. Gap/Edif BY l 'f4 .4, QMaZ/g Patented Dec. 4, 1951 UNITD STATES PATENT OFFICE Halfvly (Jiephalt,l Elmhurst, Ill., assignorv to Gerhartl Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill.,a corporation of Illinois Appucanommlyis, 194s;- Seminarang- 1 This inventionrelatesgenerally 13o-fishing rods andmorefspecically to an improvement iniishing rods of the typeforming the subject or Pat-. ent No. 2,005,081 issuedon June 18,.- 1935.

One of the important features ofthe rod disf closed in my above mentioned patent is that a forward gripping element is permanently mount#- ed at the rear end of the rod portion to facilitate assembly and dis-assembly of the rod andhadle portions. However, one disadvantage has been experienced with this type of rod inthat. when it is disassembled,- there is nothing toprevent loss of thev reel locknut over the forward end of the handle portion. The conseduence's of such loss, as when the lo'cknutY is ir'- retrievably dropped overboard at`- the' beginning of a iishing trip, can be quite serious and can' result in considerable loss of custo'rr'ier'4 good will.V

Accordingly, a primary object ofthe present invention is the provision' of a retainer which will be effectiveV to hold the reel lock in place even when the handle and rod carrying the gripping element are dis-assembled.

Another object of the present invention' is the provision of a lockn'ut retainer' which' comprises a separate member permanently assembled uponV the handle, as for example' by merely' pressing' it' in place after `the locknut is in place. This construction avoids the expense thatwoiild oth-` erwise be involved ifv it were necessary to conduct an additional forming operation on the handle after the locknut is in place to provide an integral retaining iflange thereon.

Another disadvantage of the lrod shown in. the patent which has developed in use is that the forward gripping element carried by the rod portion is abuttable by the locknut when the latter is loose and, since the' gripping*v element isi often made of plastics; cork or some such easily abradable material, the end of itfbecomes deteriorated in time by theA locknut repeatedly striking it when loose.

It2 is therefore another object' of the present invention to provide a member permanently attached to the handle which serves the dual purpose of preventing loss ofthe locknut when the rod portion is removed and also protecting the gripping element from abrasion by the loose locknut.

A further object of the present invention is to provide improved means permitting limited rotation of the rod with respect to the handle to facilitate dis-assembly, yet which maintains the rod and handle within a predetermined degree of angular alignment.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent 1` claim.. (o1. ia-23;)

i from the following description taken in con--Av nection with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional View ofA a'- fishing rod illustrating the principles oi the? present invention and showing the handle and rod portions in assembled relation;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of Fig; l2, taken along the line 2 2.4 of Fig. 1-; and

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing the' parts in dis-*assembled relation.

Referring now more particularly to the draw` ing, the numeral It designates generally the handle of affishing rod having an offset orA ree cessed portion II provided with threads I2 onx which a locknut I3v is threaded for securing a: iishingr reel (not shown) to the handle.

The forward end Id of the handle is reduced eXter-iorly to any desired extent to form a cir cumierential shoulder I5 and there is plovidctly a tubular lining I 6 within the end I4 of the handle. As shown in Fig. 2, the lining- I is of discontinuous, annular cross section formed with a longitudinally extending slot Iia; itis biased inwardly to frictionally grip the endof the rodl assembly to be described. A rivet Il' extending through the handle I 4 serves to anchor the lining I6 in place.r

The numeral IS designates one of the fishingl rod sections'and, secured to the rear end oftherod, there is an extension I9- of enlarged diameter which normally nts within, and is friotionally gripped by, the lining IG. lf it is de.- sired to'increase this frictional grip, this canbe done simply by withdrawing-rivet Il', rev:

A moving the lining. I5, and contracting the latter,l

as for example in a vise, to increase the inward. bias. Y The numeral 24 designates generally a ferrule, apron or skirt of' tubularv configuration open at the rear (that is, at the bottom in the drawing) and provided with a tapered ,forward portion 25. This tapered portion gradually decreases in internal diameter to the'extremity 26j adjacent which is a cylindrical portion 2T of substantial length so as to ilt and closely hug the rod I8. The ferrule is secured to the rod section I8 in any suitable manner such as by means of solder, brazing, or in any other manner suitable for the purpose, and the internal diameter of the body portion of the ferrule is somewhat greater than the external diameter of the reduced portion I4 of the handle Il) so as to lt telescopica-Hy over the outside of a tubular bushing 20 which is mounted on the handle end I4 and held in place by rivet 20a. The ferrule 24 also is of considerably greater diameter than the external diameter of theextension I9 on rod I8.

The rear end portion of the bushing 20 is formed with an upstanding, longitudinally extending rib 22 (formed over a similar rib 22a on the end portion I4 of the handle) which, when the parts are assembled, fits within a suitably formed grooved portion 23 struck outward from the ferrule 24, said groove being pressed at least part way into the relief groove 23a in the gripping member 28. The rib and groove 23 are so positioned on their respective parts that they will prevent relative rotation between the rod and handle beyond a range of preferred positions.

One of the important features of the present invention resides in the retainer means provided for retaining the locknut I3 on the handle I0 after the rod I8 has been removed therefrom, as in Fig. 3. This retainer means in the present instance comprises a flange or washer 2| which is fitted over the reduced portion of the end I4' and seated against shoulder I5. 'Ihe bushing 20, above mentioned, is mounted on the outside of the end I 4 just ahead of the retainer and is effective to prevent loss of the locknut when the latter is loose. The bushing 20 will be maintained permanently thereon in any preferred way, as for example by brazing, soldering, riveting or merely by a force t. The hand grip 28 (above mentioned) is here shown as constructed of cork or similar material which is sleeved upon the end of the ferrule 24 and is secured thereto as by the use of adhesive means. This grip 28 is adapted to be grasped bythe operator when it is desired to press the rod into the handle orV to detach those two members from one another, all as described in my above-mentioned patent. It also provides a convenient means of holding the rod while turning the reel.

It will be apparent that the retainer 2| will serve the dual function of: (a) preventing loss of the locknut I3 when the rod I8 is removed and, (b) preventing the locknut I3, when loose, from impinging upon the end of the cork grip 28 and abrading thelatter.

It will be seen that the groove 23a in the grip 28 provides a relief into which the rib 22 can press the formation 23 of ferrule 24 when the handle and rod are telescoped together, as shown in Fig. 2. The resilience of the ferrule 24 will urge it inwardly against the rib 22 thereby providing additional friction to hold the rod and handle together. The engagement of the rib within the indentation in the ferrule in this manner will tend to prevent the relative rotation of the rod and handle; however, it will not prevent this rotation entirely since, due to the resilience of the ferrule 24 and grip 28 and due to the proportioning of the rib 22 and grooves 23 and 23a, a limited amount of relative move-.- ment (preferably about degrees) is provided.

Thus, when the rod and handle are pulled apart, if they also are turned back and forth relative to one another, they will come apart with no dimculty whatsoever, as contrasted with the tremendous force that often needs to be applied in a straight pull to free the handle and rod in conventional rod assemblies. The grip necessary to provide this turning movement is made possible by member 28 which, as above stated, comprises a permanent part of the rod.

While a particular form of the present invention has been shown, it will be apparent that minor changes therein will readily suggest themselves to others skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

'For example, while the washer 2| and tubular bushing 20 have been illustrated as two separate parts, they may satisfactorily be made integral, if desired.

I claim:

In a fishing rod assembly wherein a tubular end portion of a handle is telescopingly engageable in and separable from a resilient ferrule secured on an end portion of a rod and carrying a surrounding hand-grip member to facilitate assembling and separating said assembly, the improvement comprising a rib extending axially along and projecting radially outwardly from the tubular end portion of said handle, an open end portion of said resilient ferrule adapted frictionally to engage about said tubular end portion and having a deformity providing a groove and a rib both extending axially along and projecting radially outwardly from the inner and outer surfaces of said open end portion, respectively, said groove being adapted to receive therein the rib of said tubular end portion and being slightly wider than the last said rib to permit slight relative rotation between said ferrule and said tubular end portion when they are in telescoping engagement to facilitate separating the handle from the rod, and said hand grip member having an axially extending groove at its inner surface registering with the rib of said open end portion and into which the last said rib extends when said ferrule and tubular end portion are in telescoping engagement and the -rib of the latter is in the groove of said ferrule.

HARRY M. GEPHART.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,641,226 Kinnear Sept. 6, 1927 2,005,081 Gephart June 18, 1935 2,315,539 Nelson Apr. 6, 1943 2,400,007 Kiest May 7, 1946 2,409,940 Kay Oct. 22, 1946 2,466,372 Byrd Apr. 5,- 1949 

